--- title: "Airwallex founders, executives and boards" language: en canonical: https://dossiertwist.com/dossiers/airwallex-pty-ltd/leadership-and-boards/ as_of: 2026-10-17 keywords: ["Airwallex Pty Ltd","ACN 609 653 312","Airwallex (Cayman) Limited","Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd","Airwallex SVF Pty Ltd","Airwallex Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd","AFSL 487221","AUSTRAC external audit","designated business group","Jack Zhang","Lucy Liu","Airwallex (UK) Limited","Airwallex Global Limited","AWX Brasil Instituição de Pagamento","Tencent","HongShan","Square Peg","cross-border payments","electronic money institution","Series H"] --- # Airwallex founders, executives and boards **Question.** Who founded and runs Airwallex, and who sits on the boards of its Australian, New Zealand and Cayman Islands companies? **Answer.** Jack Zhang, the chief executive, Lucy Liu, the president, Xijing (Jacob) Dai and Max Li are named as co-founders in every account of the 2015 founding in Melbourne; two accounts add Ki-lok Wong. James Teodorini, head of the Australian and New Zealand operations since January 2026, signed the Australian company's modern slavery statement as a director. In 2026 Sir Bill English became chair of the New Zealand company and, with Elana Rubin as chair, joined the group's Australian board. Ian Osborne, chief executive of Hedosophia, is listed as a director of Airwallex (Cayman) Limited; a 2026 newspaper report on his past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein alleges no crime by him. ## Founders - Analysis: Accounts of Airwallex's founding differ in the number of founders. A technology news site in 2019 named four co-founders, Xijing Dai, Jack Zhang, Lucy Liu and Max Li, who started the company in Melbourne in 2015; a US business magazine names Jacob Dai, Lucy Liu and Max Li as Zhang's co-founders; an Australian newspaper in 2026 and a personal-finance magazine name five: Jack Zhang, Max Li, Lucy Liu, Xijing Dai and Ki-lok Wong. Jacob Dai and Xijing Dai are the same person, named here as in his Companies House record, and Ki-lok Wong's role is not described further. Zhang is the chief executive; before founding Airwallex he worked at the Australian banks ANZ and NAB. Airwallex's 2016 announcement describes him as a former ANZ and NAB foreign exchange solution designer, and a business magazine reports that he traded foreign currencies at NAB. Liu is the president, listed in a business magazine's 2025 ranking of the most powerful women in Asia with Singapore as her country; according to magazine profiles she previously worked at Barclays in Hong Kong and as an investment consultant at CICC in Shanghai, which she left in 2015. Personal details beyond her career are omitted. Dai has been a director of Airwallex Global Limited since 10 September 2026, his only UK appointment. [src-032] [src-024] [src-074] [src-076] [src-006] [src-037] [src-040] [src-041] [src-050] ## Executives - Analysis: Kai Wu was Greater China chief executive in May 2021 and in December 2022 became chief revenue officer and Asia-Pacific general manager, the group's first Singapore-based C-suite executive, after about five years in roles that included chief financial officer, according to a company announcement and a Singapore fintech news site; the employing company is not named. Companies House shows him as a director of Airwallex (UK) Limited since 16 January 2024 and of Airwallex Treasury (UK) Limited since 5 June 2026. Arnold Chan is Asia-Pacific general manager; a human-resources trade publication, in an interview profile that does not name his employing company either, reported that he joined about five years earlier to lead the SME business in Hong Kong and now oversees more than 200 commercial staff across the region. Jeanette Kim Yum Chan, who joined Airwallex in 2019 after serving from 1986 to 2019 as managing partner of the China practice of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, was its chief legal, compliance and risk officer in September 2022, when a release of Tencent Music Entertainment Group filed with the SEC announced her appointment as an independent director of that company. In April 2026 Airwallex appointed Carolyn Renzin, based in New York, as Chief Regulatory and Compliance Officer, and a fintech trade publication reported that Chan's title became chief legal officer. [src-048] [src-097] [src-091] [src-055] [src-006] [src-038] [src-063] [src-027] [src-095] ## Australia and New Zealand - Analysis: Airwallex appointed James Teodorini head of its Australian and New Zealand operations in January 2026, replacing Luke Latham, who had left as ANZ general manager at the end of 2024; Teodorini joined from the money-transfer group Thunes, where he led Asia-Pacific, and had worked with Currencycloud and Visa Direct in Singapore. The report does not name the employing company. He signed Airwallex Pty Ltd's modern slavery statement as "Director, Airwallex Pty Ltd" on 18 June 2026. A New Zealand newspaper reported on 20 March 2025 that Airwallex had hired the Auckland-based Lowry Gladwell, formerly of Xero and Lightspeed, as its New Zealand lead and first local staff member, again without naming the employer. A copy of the New Zealand register lists three directors of Airwallex (New Zealand) Limited: Teodorini (appointed 5 March 2026), Gladwell (19 March 2026) and Simon William English (20 March 2026), and the same site finds no other New Zealand directorships or shareholdings for Teodorini or Gladwell. [src-006] [src-002] [src-088] [src-008] [src-013] [src-062] - Analysis: Airwallex announced in April 2026 that Elana Rubin AM had been appointed independent chair of its Australian board and that Sir Bill English, appointed chair of its New Zealand board on 26 March, had joined the Australian board as an independent non-executive director. The announcement does not name the legal entity; Wesfarmers' notice of its 2026 annual general meeting lists English, a Wesfarmers director since April 2018, as chairman of Airwallex (New Zealand) Limited and a director of Airwallex Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, each since March 2026, and does not list Airwallex Pty Ltd. An Australian financial newspaper described the board as overseeing Airwallex Australia's governance and reporting to the parent company led by Zhang, who said the appointments would bring deep governance and business expertise. Rubin is a non-executive member of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Governance Board and sat on the Reserve Bank Board from 31 August 2023 to 28 February 2025; she formerly chaired Afterpay, AustralianSuper and WorkSafe Victoria and is a director of Dexus and chair of the Australian Business Growth Fund and Infoxchange. English was New Zealand's Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2016 and Prime Minister until October 2017, and left parliament in March 2018; he also chairs Mount Cook Alpine Salmon and Precision Technology Group. His other New Zealand company interests, including family companies, are listed in public registers and are not part of this dossier. [src-004] [src-039] [src-028] [src-007] [src-010] [src-021] ## The Cayman company's board - Analysis: A board biography of Ian Osborne, co-founder and chief executive of Hedosophia, published by a listed company of which he is a non-executive director, lists Airwallex (Cayman) Limited among his current directorships. Osborne set up the consultancy Osborne and Partners in 2009, taking on DST Global as a client, and co-founded Hedosophia, which invested in Airwallex's 2026 Series H round. A British newspaper reported on 3 February 2026, drawing on emails released by the US Department of Justice, that from 2011 Osborne exchanged hundreds of emails with Jeffrey Epstein, proposed a strategy to rebuild Epstein's reputation, offered introductions to technology investors and British politicians, arranged visits to his island and sought financing from him, including a personal loan and funding for a US$60 million offshore investment vehicle; the emails also show preliminary discussions about creating Hedosophia. The report alleges no crime by Osborne and concerns events before and outside his role at Airwallex. Osborne said he was not aware of any crimes, never witnessed Epstein's illegal behaviour and wholeheartedly regrets the association; his spokesman said he visited the island only once, in April 2012, for less than 24 hours, that no financial arrangement took place and that Epstein made no investment in Hedosophia or his other vehicles, and DST Global said its advisory relationship with Osborne's company ended in February 2013. When retrieved in October 2026 the board biography still listed Airwallex (Cayman) Limited among his current directorships. 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